Engine Ice = Hyped JUNK!

Give it a few rides and it nicely settles. My first ride was a bit hotter. The biggest difference I have seen that it takes a while to reach 212F and for the fans to kick-in when standing in traffic and thats where it really matters for me anyway.
 
Hellgate said:
Eric did you get all of the air out of the cooling system?

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Yes Pete. Started and stopped it and continued to top it off until no more would fit in the system.

@CrazyBiker - Shouldn't a 224 mile day settle it in quite nicely? ;)

I guess I expected the same or cooler but never expected a warmer engine!
 
To run cooler, add more fuel! A bike that's running lean will always be hotter than a bike running with a bit more rich. A V-twin engine always inject more fuel to the rear cylinder since that one has a reduced cooling function receiving hot air from the cylinder in front.
 
I'm not a chemist, but agree with EVITZEE, I wouldn't put anything in the radiator or crankcase that didn't match the specifications listed in the owner's manual. I have seen some pretty serious deterioration to aluminum blocks because the wrong coolant was used, which ended up actually eating away at the coolant channels. I worked on a Vega back in about 1974 or so and found the mating surface between the heads and the cyclinders was all but gone. I didn't know what had been run in it, but it was obvious the car didn't like it. Most antifreezes (unless they are already mixed, call for a mixture of 50/50 to get the best performance (meaning best freeze protection. Without actually playing around with different mixes, I wouldn't have a clue which way the mixture composition would affect the cooling qualities but I would guess that keeping the radiator fins clean and unobstructed would have a greater outcome than using a product that supposedly caused beter heat transfer than a good grade of off-the-shelf antifreeze. I only use a regular (for aluminum blocks) antifreeze and even in 80-85 degree temps rarely see temperature indications over 175 on my bike as long as I'm moving. It would be interesting to see how a couple of absolutely identical bikes reacted to changes in coolant type, keeping all other things the same.
 
You can all go get the information and specs needed to allay your fears right here: Engine Ice - F.A.Q This was developed by motorcyclists especially for motorcycles. I doubt they'd throw together a concoction willy-nilly and sell it as a performance product. ;) It meets or exceeds the same specs as what the manual tells you to put in.

It may be safe. It may be a great product. But for me an personal experience, well, this thread says it all. I feel cheated.
 
Michelle doesn't have the JW radiator guard right? I have seen it bump the operating temperatures a bit. That may well be the difference in 3-8 degrees. Plus, you probably never compared both bikes like this before. It may well have been a higher difference or the same.
 
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johnnyontherocks said:
I have the Rad Armor installed. 95 degree day my bike runs between 177 and 183
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I have the same Rad Armor guard and it has been 95 deg in TX and mine runs about 177-180 deg when boogying along the backroads at 70-75 mph. I don't do too much stop and go traffic but it'll bump up to about 212 when the fans kick in. Then I'm off again and it drops pretty quick back to normal temps.
I did not notice much difference before/after the rad guard installation.
 
FZ1inNH said:
Today, I think I proved that this ISN'T the case and my case of Engine Ice is no better than the Walmart coolant....
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I've done temp tests on the same bike with thermocouples and accurate data loggers. I could detect no cooling improvement between whatever stock coolant Honda uses and Engine Ice. A couple of degrees, if that.

However...I still run Engine Ice. The tracks generally insist on no glycol-type coolants, because if it leaks, it crumps the course until they clean it up. So I just run it in all my bikes to keep it simple.

Also, I know it's not going to cause corrosion and seal issues. Not so sure about the cheaper stuff.

YMMV.
 
CrazyBiker said:
Michelle doesn't have the JW radiator guard right? I have seen it bump the operating temperatures a bit. That may well be the difference in 3-8 degrees. Plus, you probably never compared both bikes like this before. It may well have been a higher difference or the same.
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No, she doesn't have one and I, of course, do. But with it, we've both been running quite consistent so I find that the JW rad guard doesn't raise temperatures. We've compared often because when she first started riding the FZ1, she would ask me quite often if her quoted temp was normal and I assured her it was because mine was the same. The Scala headsets have seen quite a few of these comments back end forth all year and even more so after adding the engine ice because I wanted to know if I was running cooler than she was. :D SHE is now though and without Engine Ice.
 
Berto said:
I've done temp tests on the same bike with thermocouples and accurate data loggers. I could detect no cooling improvement between whatever stock coolant Honda uses and Engine Ice. A couple of degrees, if that.
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Very interesting! Seems hard to argue that kind of data
 
I'll ask a dumb question....why all the concern with making the bike run 10-12 deg cooler? Engines run high temps and are designed to handle that heat. Unless the radiant heat is broiling your body or causing other problems what is the advantage? I seriously doubt it is going to extend the engines life, so why worry about it? I can see why people would think cooler = better but that is not necessarily the case with an IC engine, especially such a modest decrease. Perhaps on a race engine with constant high temps it could make sense, or if you did a lot of stop and go riding, but for a street bike putt putting along at 70-80 mph on a bit of a romp along the back roads I don't think it makes any difference to go through the effort to drop the temp, and it may be even more thermodynamically efficient running at 175 instead of 160. If it was really important Yamaha, or aftermarket types, would be putting deeper oil pans (more capacity), finned oil coolers, and bigger radiators to drop the temp even more. I dunno', it just sounds like a tweak that won't make any real difference.
 
The main reason for running Engine Ice myself was for track days. I had run the engine ice in a previous bike that would run hot and the engine ice helped it out a lot.

I am very curious why Eric is experiencing the issue he is having. Its a little concerning that most have the advertised results of a cooler running engine and Eric is running hotter.


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Evitzee said:
I'll ask a dumb question....why all the concern with making the bike run 10-12 deg cooler? Engines run high temps and are designed to handle that heat. Unless the radiant heat is broiling your body or causing other problems what is the advantage? I seriously doubt it is going to extend the engines life, so why worry about it? I can see why people would think cooler = better but that is not necessarily the case with an IC engine, especially such a modest decrease. Perhaps on a race engine with constant high temps it could make sense, or if you did a lot of stop and go riding, but for a street bike putt putting along at 70-80 mph on a bit of a romp along the back roads I don't think it makes any difference to go through the effort to drop the temp, and it may be even more thermodynamically efficient running at 175 instead of 160. If it was really important Yamaha, or aftermarket types, would be putting deeper oil pans (more capacity), finned oil coolers, and bigger radiators to drop the temp even more. I dunno', it just sounds like a tweak that won't make any real difference.
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Not a dumb question at all. I don't think 10 degrees makes much, if any, difference. It might throw off a little less heat in traffic and keep the fans from coming on, but why does that matter? I don't think it does.

I think Engine Ice overstates the cooling claims. Modern coolants of all types are very efficient at heat transfer. Ten degrees would be a five percent improvement and that's a lot.
 
I switched to Engine Ice a couple of months ago and I am not dissapointed. However, this is my first Florida summer riding the FZ1 so I can't compare one coolant to another. My bike does get hot during the days, but not to the point where I can't stand it. It is more of an annoyance than anything else. What do you expect from 90-100 degree weather with 90% humidity. I can say that I can run the bike all day and it doesn't overheat, or the fan doesn't run excessively.
 
Evitzee said:
why all the concern with making the bike run 10-12 deg cooler? Engines run high temps and are designed to handle that heat. Unless the radiant heat is broiling your body or causing other problems what is the advantage? I seriously doubt it is going to extend the engines life, so why worry about it? I dunno', it just sounds like a tweak that won't make any real difference.
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i was thinking the same thing. i don't think you can go wrong if you follow the manufacturers suggested fluids, like many have said in this thread. maybe i will try this stuff someday just for the hell of it. but for now, i'm ok.
 
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